So I’ve had this bug to write a television pilot, and I’ve had a lot of ideas but I haven’t jumped into anything yet. However, I’ve been so disappointed with television lately that I thought to myself, I could write something better than this! Not the sitcoms, mind you. I’m not funny, not in the comedy writing kind of way. I’m good with drama, crime dramas in particular. So I’ve decided that I’m going to write a television show.

Here’s my biggest pet peeve, remakes. I don’t have a problem with remakes, I have a problem with the majority of remakes because they do not properly reference the old television show. You can’t stick new, hip actors into an old show theme and expect the show to be a success. There is a reason that those old shows were so successful, and understanding that can make a remake just as successful as the original. Immediately, one show came to mind and I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind since; Knight Rider.

Knight Rider came out in 1982 and was a success for 4 seasons. Since Knight Rider went off the air there have been four spin-off made for TV movies and two spin off series; and no one remembers any of them. Why was Knight Rider so successful in 1982-1986 and not success since. Writing? Acting? The car? Maybe it is because there is only one Michael Knight.

So I have an idea. I’m going to write a pilot for a new Knight Rider. I’ve decided that I’m going to design a show that people are going to remember. I know what most of you are thinking. Knight Rider? Really? Is anyone going to take this serious? My answer, yep! And I’ll tell you how, later, as we get closer. So tonight I started writing the pilot, and it’s going to be GOOD! Trust me.

Every holiday season I have a tradition of watching a select number of holiday movies. These movies are; Miracle on 34th Street (the original B&W), It’s a Wonderful Life, White Christmas, and A Christmas Story, and a few years later, Home Alone (1st one only). These have been the holiday staple since I was a boy. Over the last few years, I have added several movies to my holiday tradition. First, it was How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Jim Carrey version). My daughter loved it and the movie grew on me quickly, until I associated it with she and I at the holidays. Now, of course, she won’t watch it to save her life, but it is still my tradition. Next came my late introduction to National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. I don’t know why I had never been introduced to this movie before, but after one viewing of this movie, it immediately went on the Christmas Movie Tradition list. At this point, I felt that I had a great list of holiday movies from which to carry on the tradition…then I met my wife!

Thanks to Alison’s ever-enduring patience with me, she never judged me for my holiday movie tradition, and in fact, helped me add to it. Under the influence of Alison Marie, I have come to enjoy movies that I NEVER would have watched before, much less imagine myself enjoying. The first movie was Love Actually, which I enjoyed immediately. To be honest with you, before Alison, I did not even know that it was a holiday movie. Nevertheless, Love Actually was quickly added to the holiday tradition. Next came Elf, which I had hesitated watching because I find my enjoyment of Will Farrell movies very hit-or-miss. However, this movie was cute and very funny and his personality fit perfectly with his character. At this point, I figured, with 9 movies to watch each holiday season, I must have the perfect list.

However, it appears that this year I will be adding yet another title to my ever-expanding list. Last weekend I watched A Christmas Carol, the Disney version with Jim Carrey. When the movie came out in theaters, I was concerned about this being a horrible cartoon adaptation of the classic tale, and had no intentions of watching it. However, Breanna requested the movie, and last weekend we all watched it as a family. It was AMAZING!!! The graphics were incredible, and if regular DVD was that good, I can only imagine how spectacular Blu-Ray and 3-D must be. This was not just an adaptation, and clearly Disney put the time and effort into the movie. The effects often had the 3-D feel, and the story was very well done. My entire family enjoyed the movie and I knew immediately that it was going right on the holiday movie list.

The amazing thing is, I haven’t even scratched the surface of all the holiday movies that are out there. I researched a list of holiday related movies on IMDB, only to be astounded by how many there actually are. There are HUNDREDS of holiday movies, making my short list of favorites seem miniscule! You will have to tell me what your favorites are. What movies MUST I see and add to my holiday list? You know that I’m always open to suggestions.

As we have discussed previously; I love movies. I love writing and I love movies. I have fought the urge for years to write a screenplay, thinking that it would be too difficult to learn. However, thinking that I could make one of my books into a movie, I spent several months learning everything I could about writing a screenplay, and then in January of this year, I began writing my first one. Now, with almost two screenplays completed, I have realized that there is only one person who can make my work say what I want it to say, and that’s me. (Or maybe Steven Spielberg or James Cameron, they’ve just been so busy lately!) So now, I’ve got it into my head that I could make my own movie, and I’m already focused on making my second screenplay into a movie a few years down the line. I’m sure my wife is so excited to hear about this (sarcasm, don’t fail me now).

So now that I am seriously considering making my own independent movie over the course of the next few years, I’ve decided to devour all the movies I can; learning, memorizing, cataloging. One of the things that keeps sticking in my head is the idea that I really need to watch the classics, I need to love the classic movies. So I’ve queued up all the great, old, classics in my Netflix queue and the first movie that came in was Casablanca; and I was stoked!

So, two Saturday nights ago, when Alison was out with some friends, I popped Casablanca the remastered Blu-Ray edition into my DVD player and sat down to enjoy a classic. I don’t know what I expected, except to be blown away. There is so much hype behind this movie, and EVERYONE in the movie industry refers to it ALL the time. After sitting through the 102 minutes of the movie I realized something very disheartening; maybe I would never be a person who understood the love of classic movies. Inside I was very upset, though I first tried to pretend to myself that I loved the movie. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Humphrey Bogart was THE MAN! He was so cool in Casablanca that I think I started falling in love with him! But all the Humphrey Bogart in the world could not make me like this movie. Maybe I just didn’t get it, maybe I’m stupid. It’s certainly possible, but I really could not get into the characters, especially Ingrid Bergman’s. I really just couldn’t get into the movie at all and ended up just wishing that Bogart would give Bergman the tickets to get to America and be done with the whole thing. It kind of made the movie seem longer than it was, this back and forth, this romance that was and should be and would not be again even though they both wanted it to be. My eye is twitching just thinking about it. So there it is, I’m a want-to-be movie director and I don’t like Casablanca. For a moment, I thought this had pretty much destroyed my future career as a director.

Then I remembered something; I don’t hate old movies, I just didn’t enjoy Casablanca. I love Gone with the Wind, and when I say I love it, I really mean that I LOVE IT. I don’t care that it is 238 minutes long (4 HOURS!!!) I love every minute of it. And it’s not just Gone With The Wind, there are a lot of older movies that I really like. I loved Arsenic And Old Lace. I think it is still one of the best movies of it’s kind. I love Some Like It Hot, though more recent than the others I’ve referenced here, it is still a great movie. Then there are the holiday classics like White Christmas and It’s A Wonderful Life. I love the old actors, the old writing, and old sets and the way the movies were made. It was perfect! I don’t have to LOVE Casablanca to be a director, I just have to understand what I like and what I don’t like. I DON’T like Casablanca.

There are so many old movies out there that are classics, but I don’t know them enough to know where to start looking for them. I want to learn about these movies and learn from them. History is history no matter what the subject matter is. We all learn from history, our personal history, our family history, our national history, and even from the history of our hobbies. So this is where I need your help. To those of you who love movies and have particular favorites, I need you to tell me what you like and what you love, especially when it comes to old movies. I’m excited to see more and to learn, and I love your feedback most of all so let me have it!!

I love movies. I LOVE movies. I have always loved watching movies and, over the course of my adulthood, I have become the type of movie hoarder who actually alphabetizes his DVD collection (I’m not the only one, there are others of you out there and you know who you are!). Netflix has been a savior over the last couple of years because I have been able to see more movies without going bankrupt buying new DVD’s every Tuesday, only to dislike some movies. Lately, DVD’s have been sitting on the table for weeks, unviewed. So in order to get the most out of my Netflix subscription, and as I am beginning to take a behind-the-scenes interest in movies and how they are made; I have stepped up the number of movies I’ve been watching.

Last weekend I watched three movies, and I was quite surprised by which ones I enjoyed. I watched Prince of Persia: Sands of Time with my daughter. Even though it was a Disney movie, I did not go in with very high expectations of a movie that was developed from a game. These concepts have let us all down in the past. However, the movie was really pretty good. The script was actually well thought out and well written, the computer effects were outstanding, and the cast of A-list actors really helped to create a really good movie. I had gone into this thinking that it would be a cheesy movie and came out loving the movie and having some great family time with Breanna. Following this, I had such high expectations thinking that my next movie, Robin Hood with Russell Crowe.

Robin Hood was not what I expected either, though not in a good way. Robin Hood was an extremely long, very detailed oriented examination of the legend in which Ridley Scott attempted to incorporate history into the storyline. It was a very interesting idea and if it were any other story, it might have worked. Unfortunately, there were too many elements involved to make the whole thing work, and in the end, I was left with a very slow moving movie which was well-acted, but left me confused and dissatisfied. Robin Hood was even slower than Oliver Stone’s Alexander, which was painful in itself. While the movie is listed at 140 minutes, ten minutes over two hours, but it felt as if it were three hours long. I can only sit patiently for that long if I’m watching giant blue aliens flying around on prehistoric dino-birds!! (Shout out to Avatar) If I was bored by the new version of Robin Hood, what would people who were expecting a newer version of Robin Hood: Prince of Theives going to think? For me, I was just disappointed and oddly curious. Robin Hood ends as though it were the beginning of legend, which makes me wonder if there is going to be a sequel. I’ll have to look into it, but if this movie wasn’t good, then what chance do any sequels have?

So, in the end, movie weekend was quite surprising. Being a screenwriter and a possible aspiring director, I learned a lot from these two movies. Nothing can take the place of a well-written script. You can have all the A-list actors in the world, but if the storyline isn’t there, you’ve got nothing! There is a time limit on anyone’s attention, and there is only so much one director can try to do with a movie before he loses all interest in the movie altogether. Both movies had a great list of actors. Both movies clearly had a lot of money backing them. In the end, storyline and understanding the audience wins out and so the award for last weekend’s movie goes to…

Disney’s Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. (wait for the applause to die down).

I’m interested in your input and advice. What movies have you seen lately? What did you like and dislike and why? I’ll keep you updated as I continue watching. I watched some interesting ones this weekend too, which we will talk about next time.

Until recently, my television seemed to be permanently set to NBC or an NBC program being re-run on a cable channel. The thought that I would begin a slow migration away from NBC to CBS was unimaginable. Where was I going to go? NBC was the station which brought us Cheers, Golden Girls, The Cosby Show, only to lead us into Mad About You, Friends, Frasier, Will & Grace, and Seinfeld. The station known for it’s comedy seemed to be unstoppable, but lately even its few remaining strong comedies such as The Office and 30 Rock have slowly been losing what made them special. Shows that actually have strong, creative, and witty writing, like Parks & Recreation and Community have either been canceled or are holding on by a thread. Instead, we’ve been left with either very strange reality shows or Outsourced!

And it’s not just sitcoms, the dramas have fizzled as well. NBC was the station which brought us Law & Order, one of the longest running dramas in television history! NBC was the home of Homicide: Life on the Streets, Hill Street Blues, Las Vegas, L.A. Law, St. Elsewhere, ER, Ed, and, oh yeah, The West Wing. These are just some of the many shows that ran for season after season, making NBC so great. Now I’m left with disappointment as NBC promotes ridiculous shows such as Heroes (which is FINALLY over), Chuck (really?), The Event, Mercy, Chase, Undercovers (which, thankfully, just got the boot) and a recent, painful, re-vamp of Knight Rider. What makes matters worse, shows that actually had a decent storyline and good writing like Life, The Black Donnellys, Mister Sterling, and other such shows were barely given a chance to pick up a following. What’s with the ridiculous supernatural storyline that NBC seems to be in love with lately? Are they hoping that the same mysterious powers that their Heroes were blessed with will save their station? Harsh? Maybe, but I love television, I love watching good acting and good dramas. I love LOL’ing and I’m seriously worried that the shows that I do love are going to vanish soon.

So, yeah, I know, CBS! I couldn’t really believe it either. My sister-in-law introduced me to the hilarity that is How I Met Your Mother (or as my wife and I call it, HIMYIM). BTW; we pronounce it out, it’s too much to try to get the letters right! It wasn’t long after that when I fell in love with my favoritest (yes, I know that’s not a word) of shows in all the world, The Big Bang Theory. Since then, I’ve come to enjoy Rules of Engagement, but I’m having difficulty getting into Two and a Half Men, though I know it has quite a following. It’s not just the sitcoms either, the dramas have been great too. CSI, in all it’s iterations, has always been the gift that keeps on giving. The reality television that is Survivor and The Amazing Race has never failed to keep me interested, and new shows such as Blue Bloods have me DVR’ing even on Fridays. So what is it that CBS has right now that NBC doesn’t; good writing.

You know when you are watching a show you love, when it is just flying by and you are so hooked into the story that you forget you are even watching a television program until that annoying commercial pops in? You know when you laugh so loud that you get that slightly annoyed look from your mate? That’s good television. NBC doesn’t have it lately, and I totally understand that not every show is going to be a hit, but right now, very little is a hit. I watch Outsourced and I might laugh here and there, but what is painfully obvious is the fact that I know I’m watching a television show, and some of me is even waiting for the next commercial break. That’s not good. CBS has it too, $h*! My Dad Says is just painful. That is hard for me to say, being a diehard Trekkie and all. However, CBS has something great going for them, and NBC has lost what they had, and I’m worried that in their desperation, they are going to scuttle the few good shows they have in some misguided attempt to re-vamp the station. Please, NBC, please don’t! There is a solution, I promise.

There are good writers out there, with good ideas that can help bring back good shows and with them, the coveted ratings. I should know, I’m one of them. No, I’m not a sitcom writer, but I know there have to be many great ones just waiting for a chance. If I, as one person, can have many great plans for dramas, then there must be hundreds of great shows that fly right over the desks of NBC exec’s and creative directors, and don’t even get noticed. Please, NBC, slow down for a moment. Look at the good things you’ve got, and promote them. Look back at what works, and draw from it. I haven’t given up on NBC, I just hope NBC hasn’t given up on itself!

Until next time…

(P.S.-My love of television and movies has me branching my blog out into new areas. Your input is always welcomed, and for this particular blog, it is desired greatly! I’m always interested in other point’s of view, even if it is just to tell me that I’m wrong. I’m always looking for new shows to DVR and new movies to watch so send me your thoughts and feedback!)

Hey Everyone, right now I am finishing my second screenplay, Gravitational Strain, which will be completed by the end of October. Over the rest of 2010, I will be editing and submitting Gravitational Strain to production companies, as well as developing several more screenplay ideas and finish laying the ground work for my third novel, Learned Behavior.

I am very excited about getting back into the swing of writing my first and favorite character, Detective Nicholas Grenier, who returns in Learned Behavior. As I am already one quarter of the way through writing the novel, I am anxious to get back to Nick’s story as he solves new cases in his unique style. I will be bringing you all an updated synopsis of Learned Behavior before the end of the year. Keep checking back here and stay up-to-date with my blog for more information.

Again, thank you all for your continued support and interest in my work. Please feel free to contact me here with your feedback, comments, and suggestions. I will read all comments personally, as well as respond as quickly as possible. I look forward to talking with you again soon.

We are all taught not to judge a book by its cover, but how can we not. First impressions are often lasting impressions and they are very difficult to change. Several years ago, I created a website for myself. It was, for lack of a better term, the cover I presented to people when I could not interact with my readers personally. I worked hard on my website, but the fact is, I have no technical expertise whatsoever. As I slowly came to the realization that I would need a better site to capture the attention of my fans, as well as those who had never read my books before, I sought help in redesigning my website. I turned to the one person who knew the benefits of using the internet to market and reach a broader audience; my wonderful wife Alison Marie.

I would like to say that Alison and I worked tirelessly in getting the last version of the website up and running, but I must admit that it was more Alison Marie than me. I just did not possess the technical skill to understand the “virtual” world of the internet. Undeterred, Alison continued on with my website and created a great site that allowed me to present all of the different facets of what I like to do and what I want to be known for. I could not have been more thrilled…that is, until Alison started her own photography business.

When my beautiful Alison Marie began her photography business, she knew the first thing she was going to need was a eye catching website. Most of you have probably already visiting http://www.alisonlassiter.com and seen the amazing work she has done to showcase her incredible talent. Once I got beyond the fact that I was married to an incredible photographer, I experienced a different emotion; jealousy. I loved her website, with its flash graphics and its interactive nature. I wanted a website like Alison’s, one that my readers could use effortlessly, had charm and yet was easy enough for me to modify whenever I wanted to post new information. As if reading my mind, Alison quickly suggested that I update my website using new templates. Needless to say, I took Alison up on her advice and have created an entirely new website.

I’m so excited about this new site that I can barely contain myself. The new http://www.timothylassiter.com will be updated on a daily basis, and you can know that the information you are reading is the most up-to-date. I would go ahead and give away some new information, but I think I’ll save that for another post. In any case, welcome to my new website and I hope you visit frequently as I will be dropping new tidbits of information regularly.

As always, thank you all so much for your continued support. I could not continue on writing if it were not for my friends, family, and those who have taken a chance on a relatively unknown author. Thank you all and feel free to visit me on Facebook and or Twitter.